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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29170125">vogeltje</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/avcrozz/pseuds/avcrozz'>avcrozz</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>VALORANT (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Lonely Yoru, M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 11:48:00</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,181</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29170125</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/avcrozz/pseuds/avcrozz</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Why do you always do that?” Phoenix laughed, a teasing undertone to his voice. “We’re on a mission.”</p><p>Yoru smoothed his hair back for what had to be the eightieth time since they’d left HQ, patting it back with his hand and appearing satisfied, those dark eyes half-lidded and glinting at the Brit. In a strange way, it reminded Phoenix of a bird preening its feathers.</p><p>“Somebody has to look good around here,” Yoru responded, gleam of playfulness in his eyes.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Phoenix/Yoru (VALORANT)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>89</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>vogeltje</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>The title is Dutch for "little bird", if you were curious.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Why do you always do that?” Phoenix laughed, a teasing undertone to his voice. “We’re on a mission.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Yoru smoothed his hair back for what had to be the eightieth time since they’d left HQ, patting it back with his hand and appearing satisfied, those dark eyes half-lidded and glinting at the Brit. In a strange way, it reminded Phoenix of a bird preening its feathers.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Somebody has to look good around here,” Yoru responded, gleam of playfulness in his eyes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>~~~~</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>One of the first things the agents learnt about Yoru was how much he valued his appearance. Phoenix would bet good money that combing his hair was the very first thing Yoru did when he woke in the morning. Even on important missions, the guy was always preening himself, combing his hair and peering at himself in a small pocket mirror, obsessively messing about until he deemed himself to look </span>
  <em>
    <span>perfect.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>However long that may take. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>At first the other agents had scolded and complained and chastised, but another lesson quickly learnt was that Yoru was a very poor listener - a little like Phoenix himself. In fact, they found that Yoru rarely listened unless he was directly benefitting.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>~~~~</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Week Four was when Phoenix discovered the best way to get a rise out of Yoru. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They met on the hallway one very early morning - Yoru in particular stumbling and dizzy with sleep.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Phoenix, inwardly smirking, peered at him out of faux concern, gesturing to Yoru’s hair and observing, “Something up with your hair, Rift-walker? It looks...faded.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dark eyes blinked, and Yoru was gone in an instance. It would definitely take some getting used to having yet another teleporter in their midst.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As it turned out, Brim had later explained, Yoru’s blue hair was, in fact, not the product of dye (although he most definitely appeared the part of somebody who would use dye), but was directly connected to his abilities as a Radiant. And as such, if the cerulean tones of his locks faded, so would his powers. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And evidently, Yoru was not one to take such a prank very well, casting glares and scowls and huffs toward Phoenix for an entire two weeks. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>~~~~~</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Pain. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A red-hot, burning sensation - a heat even Phoenix could not stand, it seared at his flesh, warmed his skin - or perhaps that was the work of the blood spurting from a red-hot open wound. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Phoenix was not aware of his surroundings. There would be no rebirth for this phoenix. Not this time. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Someone was pulling him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They were doing a pretty fucking bad job at it too. Grunting and hissing and cursing in a language unknown to Phoenix, yet familiar at the same time. Pulling at his arms, his jacket, his uninjured leg, his neck. In a different state, Phoenix would be offended, because </span>
  <em>
    <span>for fuck’s sake he wasn’t that heavy.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>This person pulled him behind a box, and it was then that Phoenix blinked, amber meeting dark brown, noting a dark, unusual sense of urgency, fear and determination all mixed together in Yoru’s eyes. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Kuso.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And it was then that Phoenix made sense of it all - Yoru spoke so damn much in his native language that some phrases had started to become commonplace to him - that word being one of them. He had a hypothesis that Yoru did it just to feel power above others. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Yoru was certainly unusual, and his actions spoke that louder than anything.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The </span>
  <em>
    <span>usual </span>
  </em>
  <span>protocol for when an agent was too injured to continue fighting was to alert the others in comms. That way, the injured could be easily transported somewhere safe for later treatment.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Oh, but Yoru was far from </span>
  <em>
    <span>usual. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>For some reason, he decided that he could take care of this by himself, despite Phoenix crying and begging and sobbing for him to </span>
  <em>
    <span>stop and get help. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Yet again, Yoru was a very poor listener. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Phoenix passed out to Yoru swearing in Japanese as he clawed at the wound, trying to grasp at the bullets, Phoenix’s dark blood soaking pale fingers.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>~~~</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>“Are you </span>
  <em>
    <span>insane?!</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Phoenix had never heard Sage so furious before. Usually, she was calm, collected, reserved. She served as something as a therapist for the agents as well as their healer, and Phoenix, along with all of the agents, held a deep respect for her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Headache pounding behind coral eyes, Phoenix blinked; Yoru’s brightly decorated jacket was just by his bed, and he was leaning sheepishly against the bedframe, hands buried in pockets. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sage was towering over him, face reddening from fury, and suddenly Phoenix was glad that rage was not directed at </span>
  <em>
    <span>him.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He could have died! Do you know that?! </span>
  <em>
    <span>You </span>
  </em>
  <span>could have died! You know perfectly well what the course of action is when a teammate is injured on the battlefield, and you </span>
  <em>
    <span>ignored </span>
  </em>
  <span>it...for what reason? Why?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>For once, the sharp-tongued Rift-walker was silent.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Were you trying to impress somebody?! Because it most definitely didn’t work. You don’t know the first thing about removing a bullet! Using your </span>
  <em>
    <span>fingers?! </span>
  </em>
  <span>No tweezers? Not even any gloves?! Do you know that he would likely be slated for dead right now if we didn’t have Radiant healing magic on our side?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Yoru raised his hands in defense, taking a few small steps back. “I just...whatever. Forget it.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Clearly Sage recognised the signs that Yoru was getting skittish, because she threatened; “Don’t you dare…!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That was too late, because Yoru was gone, the dimensional tear closing itself back up neatly after he’d stepped inside. Phoenix could hear Sage cursing out the young Radiant in Mandarin as she retreated to her office.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>~~~~</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why did you do it?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Thirteen days had passed since the incident, and Phoenix was back to himself, although with a small limp. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And suddenly, Yoru was looked down upon by every agent, and he seemed to return those feelings just as strongly. Phoenix felt sorry. He couldn’t imagine how lonely it was - although Yoru had spent however long alone on Icebox. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He supposed that made it even worse.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>In an effort to cheer Yoru up, Phoenix tried to get closer to him. Befriend him, open him up. Yet for all his arrogance, Yoru was secretive, and </span>
  <em>
    <span>afraid. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Afraid of getting close. Why? Phoenix didn’t know. But he wanted to know.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hm?” One of Yoru’s eyebrows perked up, but Phoenix knew by the look in dark hazel eyes that Yoru knew exactly what he was referring to. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Yoru had become very jumpy relating to the subject. If Phoenix said even one thing out of place, Yoru would gatecrash out of there, often for hours at a time, absolutely nowhere to be found. And Phoenix could tell Yoru was starting to get to that point now, if the twitching in his fingers and the cerulean painting his palms was any indication. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Wait!” Phoenix pleaded, and without thinking, he grabbed Yoru’s shoulder.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Yoru had been very adverse to any form of physical contact, ever since arriving here. And since Phoenix was a pretty touchy and franky dense guy, it was easy to forget.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He winced, prepared for Yoru to shove him away and teleport away for another three hours, but to his surprise his eyes softened and - was he leaning in?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>What happened next took Phoenix especially by surprise. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Yoru practically </span>
  <em>
    <span>tackled </span>
  </em>
  <span>him, shoving him against the wall, arms latched around Phoenix’s neck; and shoving his head into his clavicle. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Phoenix was about to speak, completely taken aback, but he stopped himself when he became acutely aware of a warm, wet liquid, trickling its way down his collar, his chest. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Yoru was </span>
  <em>
    <span>crying.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>For once, Phoenix was utterly speechless. And confused. In fact, he felt such a plethora of emotions, he could not possibly even begin to describe each and every one of them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Soon, the silent tears morphed into silent sobs. And just as quickly, those silent sobs became loud, ugly, hiccuping cries that echoed throughout the range. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>All that Phoenix could do was gently rub patterns into Yoru’s back, fingers tracing, feeling the way the younger Radiant trembled and shivered.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Eventually, Yoru shifted. Resting his side against Phoenix’s abdomen now, one hand still wrapped around his neck, clutching as if Phoenix were the only thing in the world keeping him upright, the other hand reaching up to rub at his red eyes, instinctively turning his face away to hide it from Phoenix, ashamed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But Phoenix wouldn’t stand for this. He firmly grasped Yoru’s chin, the Rift-walker’s breath hitching as he forced Yoru to look straight at him, one thumb rubbing at the corner of Yoru’s eyes. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That must have broken something else inside of Yoru, because those sobs returned at full intensity, except this time, the Rift-maker tried so hard to suppress his noises, his breathing hitched, then sped up, until Yoru was stuck in a trance, breathing so shallow and so fast the oxygen failed to reach his brain, and clearly Yoru was panicking as he tried to control himself.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey. Hey.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Phoenix grabbed him and held him against his chest forcefully, yet gently, gently enough that Yoru could get away any time he wanted to. “Calm down. Hey?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Phoenix wasn’t certain if he were doing this right. He wasn’t even really sure what, exactly, was </span>
  <em>
    <span>happening. </span>
  </em>
  <span>His brain was failing to process it all. Phoenix was a people person, not a </span>
  <em>
    <span>people </span>
  </em>
  <span>person. He didn’t know how to cope with his own emotions, let alone other people’s. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And yet, he seemed to be doing </span>
  <em>
    <span>something </span>
  </em>
  <span>right. Because soon, slowly, Yoru’s breathing returned to normal, though he panted as if he had run a marathon. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The tears were still there. Phoenix gently wiped them up. His thumb returned, gently rubbing at one of Yoru’s jutting cheekbones, and the desired effect seemed to be there; judging by the way Yoru shut those puffed-up eyes and leaned into the touch. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I…” His voice was hiccupy, cracked. Yoru seemed to realise this, face reddening from shame at how pathetic it sounded; clearing his throat before trying again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I thought you were going to die.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Yoru’s voice was naught but a quiet whimper, such a far cry from its normal, confident arrogance.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“All I could see was y-your blood everywhere... I was so panicked, I...and then Sage...what if you had died? It would’ve been all my fault and…” Yoru’s voice cracked miserably and the tears were starting to flow again. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh...Yoru…” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Phoenix just held him so tightly. Pressed Yoru to his chest. Thanks to his abilities as a fire Radiant, Phoenix’s body temperature was much higher than average, and the same went to his body heat. Judging by the way Yoru seemed to relax and cuddle into him gratefully, Phoenix had the desired effect.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But I didn’t die. It’s in the past now, mate. Focus on the present. I’m </span>
  <em>
    <span>here.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>~~~~~~</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After that </span>
  <em>
    <span>episode, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Yoru became very distant. Not just from Phoenix, but from everyone. The other agents were unconcerned, if not utterly glad, every single one of them being sick of Yoru constantly showing off, running his mouth.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Not Phoenix, though.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And he had a feeling he knew </span>
  <em>
    <span>why </span>
  </em>
  <span>Yoru was distancing himself.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He preached about never showing weakness, being strong, being arrogant. He never shut up about it during missions. Yoru must be feeling awful, having shown such weakness to Phoenix in that moment.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Phoenix wanted so badly to find him, talk to him - but he could never find Yoru, and on the rare occasions he </span>
  <em>
    <span>did </span>
  </em>
  <span>catch sight of him, Yoru’s eyes would widen, and he’d teleport away. </span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>~~~</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Yoru knew what happened to those who left.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hunted down. Killed. Brutalised. Usually by the hungry Viper or Reyna. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But they wouldn’t catch him. Nobody did. Yoru had to get out of there. He couldn’t take it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Couldn’t take how the other agents looked at him, but especially Phoenix. The Brit probably hated him, just as the others, and Yoru couldn’t take it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He was far, now. They wouldn’t find him so easily, and if they did-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A heavy weight crashed against him. Yoru yelped in surprise - and in fear. They’d found him so fast. How? How had they caught him off guard?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Yoru tried to gatecrash. But his assailant was clever. Grabbing both of Yoru’s wrists so tightly his blood circulation was cut off, preventing him from making the movements necessary to distort reality. They sat on his abdomen, knocking the wind from it and making it difficult to breathe properly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Then, Yoru looked at his attacker.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Those earrings; that jacket - unmistakable. Phoenix. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And that only made panic stir deep within Yoru, desperately trying to free his hands, but Phoenix was </span>
  <em>
    <span>so much </span>
  </em>
  <span>stronger than him…</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Please.” Yoru had to will away tears stinging at the corners of his eyes. “Phoenix-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>To his shock, Phoenix, too, sounded like he was on the verge of tears.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why did you run?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>Yoru wasn’t given the opportunity to answer, because suddenly lips were against his, hands were in his hair, tugging lightly. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Yoru was shell shocked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t run again,” Phoenix demanded. </span>
</p>
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